For the purpose of this manual, the team is defined as including those persons directly involved with the child with disabilities within the inclusive setting. This is the child's "core team." The child's core team might include but is not limited to:

1) community early childhood staff (classroom teachers, the director, volunteers, etc.);
2) related services staff working with the child (ECSE teacher, occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech therapist, inclusion coordinator, psychologist, social worker, nurse, paraprofessional, etc.); and,
3) the child's family members.

Teams will not look the same or function exactly alike. Core teams may be as small as 2 to 3 members, or as large as 6 to 10 members. Parents and family members of the child with disabilities may or may not be able to attend all core team meetings, but they should be informed of all meetings and it should not be assumed that they are not interested in what is being discussed at the meetings when they are unable to attend. The scheduling of team meetings that allow for maximum parent and community staff participation is sometimes challenging and necessitates flexibility on the part of all the team members. Some teams will feel the need to meet weekly, others bi-weekly, and some monthly. Some meetings will have a 30 minute time limit, others will take longer. Some team meetings will be devoted specifically to one child, while other team meetings may address the progress and needs of several different children. In other words, the function and form of team meetings will be defined from program to program depending upon the needs of the individual children and the staff members involved (Read more about early childhood inclusion team in our Guidelines).